It Was You
by tiger002
Summary: I was weak; I was afraid. You changed me; you gave me something to fight for. It was you that taught me who I am.


**A/N: **This was a song fic originally published on the Lock song fic collection by mikanluvrmayumi, but due to it not getting much support, I've decided to also publish it under my account. The song is "It was you" by 12 Stones.

**Date**/ _Lyric_ / Regular

**May 10th 2010**

It was a night that came but once a year for the students of Seven Seas High, their prom. All the students were dressed in their best—tuxedos for the guys and beautiful dresses for the girls. Their grand ballroom was decorated in the theme of Atlantis, fitting for the sea school.

Zack and London walked out to the middle of the dance floor, the crowd cheering for all their accomplishments in the past year. He gently placed his arm around her back while she daintily placed her palm on his shoulder.

The band began playing one of the couple's favorite songs that seemed to fit their relationship over the last few months perfectly.

_It was you  
That showed me who I am  
And taught me how to stand  
For what I know is real_

**November 18th 2009**

"I can't believe they're shutting the school down!" Zack screamed, sending a freshly made smoothie flying across the sky deck.

"Don't lose your temper," Cody said, feeling the same sorrow building inside him as his brother, almost ignoring the fact that his drink was now covering a passenger's head.

"What are they going to do, fire me?" Zack scoffed. "What do I care if they get rid of me a few weeks before we're all forced to go home? That might actually be a good thing, that way I can spend more time coming up with ways to get revenge."

"Still, there has to be something we could do," Cody said with a sigh, "Maybe if Bailey was here, she would've thought of something."

Zack rolled his eyes at yet another comment about his brother's ex leaving the ship to help on the farm. She left about a month ago, yet it seemed like every other word Cody said was about Bailey. "Yeah, but, it's not like we can just convince Mr. Tipton to keep the program open."

"Maybe we can't," Cody trailed off and a smile came across both brothers' faces before he even finished his sentence. There was one person on the ship that not even Mr. Tipton could say no to.

…

"London, we need your help," Zack shouted banging on her door.

"Wow, I do a couple nice things, and now it seems like everyone wants my help," she said as she answered the door.

"But this involves something that only someone as famous and beautiful as you could help us with," Cody added, knowing how London's mind worked.

"Oh, in that case I'm your heiress."

"Convince your dad not to shut down Seven Seas High at the end of the semester."

"Uh, find someone else," she said before turning to walk back into her room.

Zack however, placed his foot in the doorway keeping it open. "You're not even going to try?" he asked. Whenever London had wanted something in the past, all it took was a simple call to Daddy and the problem would disappear.

"Well he doesn't like to talk about his business decisions with me. He says they're too complicated for me to understand."

"Give me his number then, so l can give him a piece of my mind." Zack was practically fuming at this point. He slammed his fist against the wall.

"Calm down bro," Cody said placing his hand on Zack's shoulder. "Losing your temper here won't help things."

"What do you expect me to do then?" Zack snapped back at his brother.

"I don't know," he admitted. For all his knowledge, he had no idea what to do at a time like this. It wasn't like the time they fought city hall to save Liberty Park; no, this time they were against something much more powerful. There was no way a bunch of kids could stop one of the most powerful business tycoons in the world.

The twins didn't even notice that London had shut her door to escape all the yelling. She walked over to her bed and reached for her phone. Her heart was divided, should she side with her friends or her father?

Her dad had given her everything she ever wanted. When she wanted to learn ballet, he bought her the best teacher Switzerland had to offer. When she wanted to learn to ice skate, he even bought her Iceland to practice. She couldn't believe the amount of times she had called him to get rid of a teacher she didn't like or make a step mom disappear. He really did love her, only saying no when he knew it was in her best interest.

Even so, for having all her wants fulfilled, her needs were often neglected. She had everything money could buy, but she couldn't buy the most important things in her life. The friends and family aboard the ship had proven that they cared about her for who she was, instead of how much money she had. She couldn't count the times they had been there for her, such as Cody being there to produce "Yay Me", Bailey helping her study for the exams she would have otherwise failed and Zack covering for her when she went out with Luis when they stopped in Spain despite Moseby's objections. She was truly blessed by her friends.

So, she made her decision, reaching for the phone she pressed the number one speed dial and held it to her ear, ready for the hardest conversation of her life.

_I was sick of all the pain  
Tired of all the shame that I felt  
But you showed me a way  
To never have a doubt  
And always to believe in myself_

Zack decided to take a walk before returning to his cabin and doing at least some of his homework. He needed something to clear his head and the quadratic formula wasn't helping matters. The sky deck was nearly empty, probably because it was an hour past curfew. However, the older twin's eyes locked upon a figure standing in the distance. In the pale moonlight, he could barely make out her long black hair swaying with the wind. "London," he said softly walking up to her.

"Oh hey Zack, what are you doing here?" she asked. However, unlike her normal chipper personality, she was drained of emotion.

"Just needed to clear my head, what about you?"

"I talked to Daddy."

Zack saw the tears building on the heiress' face, so he knew that it didn't go well. "What happened?" he asked in little more than a whisper.

"Well, I told him that I thought he needed to keep the school running, and that he had to think about all my friends here that were learning so much."

"It wasn't enough, was it?"

"No." She shook her head. "He said that the cost of having so many students on board offset the cost of attendance, and that he could make a lot more money by opening the rooms to normal guests. He said he found a great school in North Dakota for me to finish high school. He also said he'd fly all the other students back home at the start of the year."

"There wasn't anything you could say to change his mind?" Zack asked, pleading for some sign of good news that would mean he wouldn't be torn away from all his friends.

"You know how Daddy is with money," she replied somberly.

"I see," Zack said, taking a seat in one of the beach chairs. He rested his head in his hands as a couple tears escaped his eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said softly placing her hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him. She knew it was her fault he was like this. She thought her money could solve anything, but it was useless. She was powerless to help her friends, completely worthless. "I know you probably hate me for not being able to do anything."

"How could I hate you?" Zack said getting up from his chair. He gently took a hold of her chin and tilted her head up so their eyes met. "I might be angry at your father, but you did everything you could."

"But I'm just a failure," she said turning away from Zack.

"It's not your fault your father is a heartless asshole that can't see beyond the dollar signs clouding his eyes." London turned to face him, and he knew he might have gone too far. "No offense of course."

"Oh, none taken, that's pretty tame compared to the things I said to him."

"I guess just talking about it won't do anything to help though."

"Yeah, it's hard to change his mind when so much money is involved." They stood in awkward silence for a moment before an idea struck London. "I got it!" she exclaimed.

"What?"

"Well Daddy said he'd make about a million dollars more a year by cutting Seven Seas High, and he gives me a hundred thousand dollars a week in allowance, so I could pay for the difference. He won't be losing any money, so he'd have no reason to close the school."

"You sure you want to do that?"

"Yeah, I can give up a little bit of money to be able to stay here with my friends."

"You're so awesome, London."

_It was you  
That showed me who I am  
And taught me how to stand  
For what I know is real_

**February 8****th**** 2010**

Zack made his way through the decks of the ship, trying to find his way out of the endless maze. He had forgotten what Cody had asked him to pick up for him, and he didn't even know where he was now. Even after all this time on the ship, he thought he knew his way around, but the endless passenger rooms of the lower decks seemed to be the same in any direction. As he passed room 613 for the 10th time, he made a turn down the next corridor, where he heard a high-pitched scream.

He took off in that direction, wondering what was going on and hoping the person he found could help him out of this endless labyrinth. Upon reaching the voice, he was appalled by the sights. He saw London on the ground, her hands and legs tied up and duct tape around her mouth. He also saw three guys from his class surrounding her, sadistic grins across their faces. He quickly recognized them as James, Sam, and Tim, the three biggest jerks he had ever met.

James went up to London, and moved his hand along her leg, tearing the shoe off her foot before tossing it to the side. "Don't worry, this shouldn't hurt much if you're a good little girl and don't try resisting." His hand slid up her leg and soon went up her skirt. A whimper escaped her mouth even through the duct tape, as fear consumed her.

"Get the hell away from her!" Zack yelled, slowly walking up to the three. He had never felt so much fury in his life. He couldn't believe that these three could just do something like this to an innocent girl.

"Oh, don't worry; we don't mind sharing her with you. I'm sure a player such as yourself hasn't thought about doing this at least once," Sam said.

"You're just lucky you got here when you did, this bitch put up quite a fight," Tim said, rubbing several bruises on his arms.

"I'll tell you what, run away now, if you want to live," he said calmly, doing everything he could to keep his anger in check. The logical part of his mind was screaming that he had to run and get help, that he couldn't take three guys who were bigger than him. However, love for his friend pushed all his fear away.

_Now I'm breathing for the first time  
And I'm leaving, all this behind  
And I'll stand  
For what I know is real_

"You're not really my type, but I'm sure we could have some fun with you too," Tim said walking up to Zack. The elder twin didn't let him get close, as he pounded his fist into the other teen's jaw, sending him to the floor before the other two were on him. Zack ducked just in time to dodge James' punch before sweeping his legs out from under him. However, he wasn't fast enough as Sam slammed his foot into Zack's stomach sending him flying against the wall, He was thankful that his winter coat helped to protect him against some of the impact.

He tried getting some distance, but he soon felt his arm being grabbed and jerked his head to see who it was. Tim then brought his other fist across Zack's face, sending him to the ground. He tried rolling out of the way, but it was too late as he felt James pin his leg to the ground with his foot. Fear filled every aspect of his being as the older teen leaned himself over the twin's body. He violently ripped Zack's winter coat off and began pounding away at his chest, causing him to scream out in pain. He was hurt too badly to resist James picking him up by the neck and delivering an uppercut that slammed him back into the wall.

He nearly fell to the ground, but saw the heiress trembling in fear behind the three. The desire to protect her drove away all the pain and fear. He wiped away the blood that was running down his face from his likely broken nose. "I'm going to give you one more chance to run before I kill you."

"Tough words from a brat that just got the crap beat out of him," James said with smirk. He ran at Zack and aimed his fist for the twin's stomach; however, Zack grabbed his wrist and bent it back forcing the elder teen to his knees from the pain. Sam and Tim soon charged at Zack to help their comrade, but before they could reach the teen, they were slammed into the ground. Zack looked up to see Cody and London standing over the other two.

"Sorry I didn't help you right away, but I thought getting London free would be much more beneficial," Cody explained.

"Now do you want to run?" Zack said with a smirk, knowing he had nothing to fear.

"Never," James said breaking free of Zack's grasp as the other two rose from the ground, not willing to be humiliated like this. "You'll all pay for thinking you could beat us."

Tim charged at London; however, London was ready for him. He had no chance against her martial arts ability as she delivered three punches to his stomach, two kicks to his face, and one cup shattering knee to his balls. He quickly fell to the floor unconscious.

Meanwhile, Sam ran at Cody, who tried dodging the fist aimed for his stomach but didn't back up in time, and was struck hard. The younger twin cringed through the pain and grabbed his arm puling him close enough to sock him across the face. Even though he could already see the bruise across his victim's jaw, he knew that wouldn't be enough. Cody knew he was foolhardy to rush into a fight like this and think he could keep up, but he couldn't just stand back and let his friends' handle this when they were in such danger.

Zack and James traded blows, both taking the pain and kept going. Eventually Zack delivered a kick into his chest that sent him flying back, however as Zack charged at him, James used Zack's own momentum to toss him into Cody. The twins collided and fell to the ground.

"That hurt," Cody stated, trying to get his arm out from under Zack.

"Tell me about it." Zack was sure that once the adrenaline faded he'd be incredible pain, but he had to keep going no matter what the cost.

The two rose once again, as their enemies walked to them, wondering how long the twins could hold out before their weakness would finally catch up to them. "I don't think we can beat them like this," Cody said softly.

"This isn't the time for fear," Zack said trying to calm both his own and his brother's fear.

"I know, but let's team up on them," Cody said as he racked his mind for a plan.

"Let's try Operation Tango Lift."

It took Cody a second to catch on but he knew exactly what he meant as the elder twin took a couple steps. It was amazing how easily they could read each other's thoughts in a time like this. "Now!" Zack said as he ran by Cody, the younger twin grabbed him and tossed him into the air. With the increased speed, Zack landed on Sam, his shoe leaving a resounding imprint on his face. James took a couple steps back in surprise, but Cody ran at him. "Zack!" the younger twin said getting his brother's attention.

The older twin nodded as Cody ran at him. Zack grabbed Cody by the thighs and threw his brother at their enemy with similar results. The force of the younger twin's body on James' neck sent him to the ground, unable to resist anymore.

"Thank you so much Zack!" London exclaimed as she grabbed his face and slammed their faces together. It didn't take much convincing for Zack to return the kiss. They broke apart after a couple seconds, after Cody cleared his throat.

"Thanks to you too Cody," she said wrapping him in a tight hug. "How'd you know to come find me?"

"Well I got lost after I came down here looking for something for our science project and forgot what it was," Zack said.

"And I came down here when Zack never came back from getting my chemistry set from the ship's post office," Cody added. "We should probably get you to the infirmary though," he said noticing the blood on Zack's face.

"I want to make sure those guys don't get away with this," Zack said glancing to the three on the ground who were either in extreme pain or unconscious.

_It was you  
That showed me who I am  
And taught me how to stand  
For what I know is real_

**May 10th 2010**

"I'm sure it's no surprise to everyone here, but the prom queen and king are Zack and London!" Bailey announced as the two of them swayed to the music, just enjoying each other's company. Through the chaos of the past year that brought them together, they were each other's rock, their anchor. Life on the ship never stayed the same for long, but one constant was the love they shared for one another.

**-FIN-**


End file.
